Estimate assisting apparatus, method for controlling the same, and recording medium storing a program executed by a computer

ABSTRACT

An estimate assisting apparatus includes an alternative storing unit that stores information regarding an alternative service corresponding to a certain service, a temporary estimate making unit to makes a temporary estimate on the basis of the certain service and other services that is determined through the telephone call, an alternative obtaining unit that obtains the information regarding the alternative service corresponding to the certain service from the alternative storing unit. A request screen generating unit that generates a request screen content which corresponds to the presented information and which displays information regarding the temporary estimate, a mail transmitting unit that transmits an estimate mail including the request screen content to a mail address of the client, and a request receiving unit that receives a request for a service by receiving the request mail which is transmitted using the request instructing unit and which includes estimate information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of theprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-204964, filed on Sep. 13,2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The embodiments relate to an estimate assisting apparatus, a method forcontrolling the estimate assisting apparatus, and a recording medium onwhich a program for controlling the estimate assisting apparatus isrecorded.

BACKGROUND

People who are considering purchasing or requesting a service such asrepair of product(s) often call a call center of the manufacturer of theproducts first to consult about the purchase or the service. Suchclients who have called the call center receive an explanation of thepurchase or the repair of the products, services, and the like from thecall center. Some clients who have called the call center might decideto purchase or request to repair products during the same telephonecall, but others might hang up without deciding whether or not topurchase or request to repair products.

If a client has decided to purchase or request to repair a productduring the telephone call, the client can receive a service immediatelyon the basis of the content of an estimate made by the call center. Onthe other hand, a client who has not decided to purchase or request torepair a product keeps considering the purchase or the repair and thendetermines whether or not he/she receives a service on the basis of thecontent of an estimate provided through the telephone call. The clientmight call the call center at a later date and make a request for theservice.

Even if the client have called the call center, it is possible that anoperator at the call center cannot check the content of the estimatewith which the client was provided previously from the call center. Inthat case, the client undesirably needs to ask the call center about afee system and costs again.

Therefore, in order to save the trouble of asking the call center for anexplanation, the client who has not decided to purchase or request torepair a product might make a request for a service on the Internet.

However, if the individual circumstances of the client have been takeninto consideration during the communication with the call center, anestimate made on the basis of the communication might not be reflectedon the Internet. In addition, the client might forget the contentexplained during the telephone call and therefore cannot judge thevalidity of an estimate when he/she sees the estimate that has been madeagain for the Internet.

Furthermore, even if the client who has made a telephone call attemptsto make a request for a service at a later date, the time limit withinwhich the estimate is effective might be exceeded. In this case, theclient misses the opportunity to make a request on the basis of theestimate provided from the call center.

As a method for attracting attention of clients, a technique has beenproposed in which a reminder mail is transmitted to a client who haspurchased a product in order to recommend other products.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the invention, an estimate assisting apparatusincludes an alternative storing unit that stores information regardingan alternative service corresponding to a certain service, a temporaryestimate making unit that, upon receiving presented information thatincludes information regarding the certain service and that isdetermined through a telephone call from a client, makes a temporaryestimate based on the certain service and other services that aredetermined through the telephone call, an alternative obtaining unitthat, upon receiving the information regarding the certain service fromthe temporary estimate making unit, obtains the information regardingthe alternative service corresponding to the certain service from thealternative storing unit.

According to an aspect of the invention, the estimate assistingapparatus includes a request screen generating unit that generates arequest screen content which corresponds to the presented informationand which displays information regarding the temporary estimate, thecertain service and the alternative service in such a way as to allowthe client to select either the certain service or the alternativeservice, and a request instructing unit for transmitting a request mailto a predetermined mail address for sending a reply, a mail transmittingunit that, when a certain period of time has elapsed since the telephonecall, transmits an estimate mail including the request screen content toa mail address of the client, and a request receiving unit that receivesa request for a service by receiving the request mail which istransmitted using the request instructing unit and which includesestimate information, which is obtained by adding information regardinga service selected on the request screen content included in theestimate mail to the information regarding the temporary estimate.

Additional aspects and/or advantages will be set forth in part in thedescription which follows and, in part, will be apparent from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

The objects and advantages of the invention will be realized andattained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointedout in the claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and arenot restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages will become apparent and morereadily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an estimate assisting apparatus accordingto an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example of a format of a request screen.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example of an operator screen and a presentedinformation input screen.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an estimate assisting process executed by anestimate assisting apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an estimate assisting apparatus accordingto an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an estimate assisting apparatus accordingto an embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a case in which a request for aservice is made using a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) specified in amail.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a computer that executes a program forcontrolling an estimate assisting apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments, examples ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. Theembodiments are described below to explain the present invention byreferring to the figures.

Embodiments of an estimate assisting apparatus, a method for controllingthe estimate assisting apparatus, a program for controlling the estimateassisting apparatus, and a recording medium in which the program forcontrolling the estimate assisting apparatus is stored disclosed hereinwill be described in detail hereinafter on the basis of the drawings. Itis to be understood that the following embodiments do not limit atechnique disclosed herein.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an estimate assisting apparatus accordingto an embodiment. In this embodiment, an estimate assisting apparatusthat assists in making an estimate of repair costs requested by a clientwill be described as an example. However, the present invention is notlimited to any particular type of service or product and may be directedto an estimate pertaining to any service and/or product.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, an estimate assisting apparatus 1 according tothis embodiment is connected to an operator apparatus 2 and a userapparatus 3 through a network.

The estimate assisting apparatus 1 has a presented information receivingunit 11, an alternative obtaining unit 12, an alternative storing unit13, an estimate making unit 14, a request screen generating unit 15, amail transmitting unit 16, and a request receiving unit 17.

The presented information receiving unit 11 receives a request todisplay an input screen of presented information (hereinafter referredto as a “presented information input screen”) from the operatorapparatus 2. Here, the presented information is a content that anoperator Q (provider of service or product) has presented to a client Pduring a telephone call. The presented information includes, forexample, information regarding a faulty component, a model number of aproduct to be repaired, a name and a mail address of the client P,content of the inquiry, etc. In addition, a telephone set used for atelephone call may be a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone.While the presented information is described has being related to afaulty component, the present invention is not limited to presenting anyparticular type of information. For example, the presented informationmay be an addition to a product or service currently owned by theclient, a new product or service, etc.

The presented information receiving unit 11 causes the operatorapparatus 2 to display the presented information input screen. Thepresented information receiving unit 11 then receives presentedinformation from the operator apparatus 2 through the presentedinformation input screen.

After that, the presented information receiving unit 11 outputsinformation regarding a faulty component, for example, to the estimatemaking unit 14, which is described in detail below. The presentedinformation receiving unit 11 then receives, from the estimate makingunit 14, an estimate of repair costs for the faulty component presentedduring a telephone call. The presented information receiving unit 11then causes the operator apparatus 2 to display the estimate receivedfrom the estimate making unit 14.

Upon receiving an instruction for determining presented information fromthe operator apparatus 2, the presented information receiving unit 11outputs information regarding a component for repair to the alternativeobtaining unit 12 from among the presented information that has beendetermined. Here, because the input format of the input from theoperator apparatus 2 is predetermined, the presented informationreceiving unit 11 may identify the information regarding a component forrepair on the basis of a position of an input on the presentedinformation input screen.

Furthermore, upon receiving the instruction for determining presentedinformation from the operator apparatus 2, the presented informationreceiving unit 11 outputs the presented information that has beendetermined to the request screen generating unit 15.

The estimate making unit 14 stores a table of the prices of componentsand a table of the repair costs of various repair operations. Theestimate making unit 14 receives information regarding a component forrepair and information regarding the content of repair from thepresented information receiving unit 11. The estimate making unit 14then obtains the price of an input component for repair and the repaircosts corresponding to the content of repair from the tables storedtherein. The estimate making unit 14 makes an estimate of repair on thebasis of the price of the component for repair and the repair costs thathave been obtained. After that, the estimate making unit 14 outputs theestimate to the presented information receiving unit 11. The presentedinformation receiving unit 11 and the estimate making unit 14 are anexample of a “temporary estimate making unit”. While prices ofcomponents and repair costs are described herein as part of an estimate,the present invention is not limited to any particular information of aproduct or service.

The alternative storing unit 13 is a storage apparatus such as a memoryor a hard disk. The alternative storing unit 13 stores informationregarding alternative services corresponding to information regardingservices input from the operator apparatus 2. Here, “services” refersto, for example, components to be provided for repair. For example, asalternatives to a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digitalversatile disc read-only memory (DVD-ROM), a Blu-ray Disc (registeredtrademark), and the like are stored. Although specific alternativeservices are described while referring to components for repair as anexample in this embodiment, services may be of other types. For example,services may be conditions for maintenance or types of campaigns.Alternative services to components for repair may be simply referred toas “alternative components” hereinafter.

The alternative obtaining unit 12 receives information regarding acomponent for repair from the presented information receiving unit 11.The alternative obtaining unit 12 then obtains, from the alternativestorage unit 13, information regarding an alternative componentcorresponding to the input information regarding a component for repair.After that, the alternative obtaining unit 12 outputs the obtainedinformation regarding an alternative component to the request screengenerating unit 15.

The request screen generating unit 15 stores a format of a requestscreen content illustrated in FIG. 2 in advance. FIG. 2 is a diagram ofan example of the format of the request screen content. In the format ofthe request screen, as illustrated by a part encircled by a dotted line101 in FIG. 2, a component for repair that has been presented during atelephone call and alternative components are displayed in such a way asto allow the client P to select any component. In addition, in theformat of the request screen, if a component for repair has noalternative, only the component for repair that has been presentedduring a telephone call is displayed. In addition, in the format of therequest screen, items are provided in which an estimate number, the dateand the time of a telephone call, the effective period of an estimate,the model number of a product to be repaired, a faulty portion, timetaken for repair, and the like are written. Furthermore, in the formatof the request screen, a request button 103 for making a request forrepair is provided. In the request button 103, a function ofautomatically sending a mail to a mail address of the estimate assistingapparatus 1 upon pressing of the request button 103 is embedded. Themail address of the estimate assisting apparatus 1 is an example of a“mail address for sending a reply”. In addition, as another embodiment,when the request button 103 is pressed, a request form (not illustrated)for requesting repair is displayed. The request form has a field inwhich information necessary to request repair is to be input and arepair request button. When the repair request button is pressed,information regarding a request for a repair is transmitted to a requestreceiving storage unit (not illustrated) of the estimate assistingapparatus 1. The request button 103 is an example of a “requestinstructing unit”. Another example of the request instructing unit maybe letters for which a link is set so as to allow a request process tobe performed by clicking the letters for which a link is set.

The request screen generating unit 15 receives, from the presentedinformation receiving unit 11, presented information regarding servicespresented by the operator Q to the client P. In addition, the requestscreen generating unit 15 receives information regarding an alternativecomponent from the alternative obtaining unit 12. In this embodiment,the request screen generating unit 15 receives the information regardingan alternative component from the alternative obtaining unit 12.

The request screen generating unit 15 generates the request screen usingan input estimate number, presented information, and informationregarding an alternative component in the format of the request screen.The request screen generating unit 15 then outputs the generated requestscreen to the mail transmitting unit 16.

The mail transmitting unit 16 has a clock. In addition, the mailtransmitting unit 16 stores a period of time from a telephone call totransmission of an estimate mail in advance. This period of time is anexample of a “certain period of time”. This period of time may be one ormore. In this embodiment, the mail transmitting unit 16 stores threeperiods of time, namely 1 hour, 7 days, and 12 days.

The mail transmitting unit 16 receives a request screen from the requestscreen generating unit 15. The mail transmitting unit 16 then creates anestimate mail including the request screen illustrated in FIG. 2.Furthermore, the mail transmitting unit 16 obtains the date and the timeof a telephone call and the mail address of the client P from therequest screen. Although the mail transmitting unit 16 obtains the dateand the time of a telephone call and the mail address of the client Pfrom the request screen in this embodiment, other methods may be used.For example, the mail transmitting unit 16 may receive the date and thetime of a telephone call and the mail address of the client P from thepresented information receiving unit 11, the operator apparatus 2, orthe like.

The mail transmitting unit 16 adds the period of time until transmissionof an estimate mail to the date and the time of a telephone call, inorder to obtain the date and the time of transmission of the estimatemail. When the clock incorporated into the mail transmitting unit 16reaches the date and the time of transmission of the estimate mail, themail transmitting unit 16 inquires of the request receiving unit 17whether or not the client P has already made a request for a service. Inthis embodiment, the mail transmitting unit 16 makes an inquiry using,for example, the mail address of the client P. The mail transmittingunit 16 then obtains, from the request receiving unit 17, informationregarding presence/absence of a request for a service from the client P.If the client P has not made a request for a service yet, the mailtransmitting unit 16 transmits the estimate mail to the mail address ofthe client P. In this embodiment, the estimate mail is transmitted tothe user apparatus 3. In this embodiment, the mail transmitting unit 16transmits the estimate mail to the client P when 1 hour, 7 days, and 12days have elapsed since the telephone call. If the client P has alreadymade a request for a service, the mail transmitting unit 16 does nottransmit the estimate mail to the client P. The estimate mail plays therole of a reminder mail for reminding the client P about a request for aservice.

The request receiving unit 17 obtains a request mail for requestingrepair transmitted from the user apparatus 3 to the mail address of theestimate assisting apparatus 1. For example, when the client P haspressed the request button 103 (refer to FIG. 2) on the request screenincluded in an estimate mail using an input device 312 in order todetermine a request for repair, the estimate assisting apparatus 1receives the request mail. The request receiving unit 17 obtains, fromthe request mail, information regarding a temporary estimate that hasbeen corrected through selection of a component for repair on therequest screen, and receives a request for repair. The request receivingunit 17 then stores information described in the request mail in aproduct repair database 20. A department in charge of repairing productsrefers to the product repair database 20 to know what kind of repairwork is to be performed. It is to be noted that the content of a requestfor repair is also stored in the product repair database 20 even whenthe request for repair is made through a telephone call.

The operator apparatus 2 is an apparatus operated by the operator Q whoreceives a telephone call from the client P. The operator Q receives arequest for repair from the client P over the telephone. At this time,the operator Q asks the client P his/her name, his/her mail address,information regarding a faulty product, and the content of the failureover the telephone. The operator Q then identifies a faulty componentand determines a component for repair and the content of repair on thebasis of the information provided by the client P. After that, theoperator Q explains the component for repair, the content of repair, andservices for repair to the client P over the telephone. The operator Qthen inputs, using the operator apparatus 2, presented informationincluding the content explained to the client P during the telephonecall to the estimate assisting apparatus 1.

For example, the operator apparatus 2 displays an operator screen 201illustrated in FIG. 3. The operator screen 201 is a screen used by theoperator Q during a telephone call, and allows the operator Q to easilyaccess an activation button for the presented information input screen,information regarding products, support information, and the like. FIG.3 is a diagram of an example of the operator screen 201 and thepresented information input screen. The operator Q activates a presentedinformation input screen 202 and causes the operator apparatus 2 todisplay the presented information input screen 202 by pressing anestimate button 211 on the operator screen 201. In this embodiment, theoperator Q inputs the date and the time of a telephone call, the mailaddress of the client P, a component for repair that has been presented,estimated costs, the content of the inquiry, and the like to thepresented information input screen 202. The operator apparatus 2 outputsthe information that has been input using the presented informationinput screen 202 to the presented information receiving unit 11.

As another embodiment, the operator Q may input client information andbasic information of the inquiry such as the mail address of the clientP and the content of the inquiry on the operator screen 201, and thenmay input information regarding an estimate such as the name of acomponent for repair that has been presented and estimated costs on thepresented information input screen 202.

Furthermore, if the client P is a registered user, the operator Q mayidentify the client P on the operator screen 201, obtain the mailaddress of the client P from the registered information of the client P,and display the mail address of the client P on the presentedinformation input screen 202.

Although the estimate assisting apparatus 1 makes an estimate on thebasis of a faulty component and the content of a service, the operator Qmay make an estimate instead. For example, the operator Q may make anestimate on the basis of a component for repair and the content ofrepair, and may input the estimate to the presented information inputscreen 202.

The user apparatus 3 is an apparatus used by the client P (FIG. 1). Theuser apparatus 3 has a user interface 31 that includes a display device311 and the input device 312. The client P uses the user interface 31 torefer to or input information. The client P uses the user interface 31to refer to an estimate mail transmitted from the estimate assistingapparatus 1. It is to be noted that the user interface 31 is supposed tobe mail application software installed in the user apparatus 3 used bythe client P in the following embodiments. On the other hand, as anotherembodiment, the user interface 31 may be software such as supportapplication software or an information collecting gadget installed inthe user apparatus 3 used by the client P. In this case, an estimatemail is transmitted in the optimum format for display according to eachtype of software and received by each type of software, and a requestscreen similar to that illustrated in FIG. 2 is displayed on the displaydevice 311.

The user apparatus 3 displays the request screen included in theestimate mail on the display device 311. The client P selects acomponent from among a component for repair that has been presentedduring a telephone call and alternative components, referring to therequest screen displayed on the display device 311. In this embodiment,since the screen illustrated in FIG. 2 is displayed on the displaydevice 311, the client P selects a component for repair from the partencircled by the dotted line 101 using the input device 312. By thisselection of a component for repair, the temporary estimate is correctedand an estimate desired by the client P is made. Furthermore, the clientP presses the request button 103 illustrated in FIG. 2 using the inputdevice 312. By pressing the request button 103, a request mail includinginformation regarding the estimate desired by the client P istransmitted to the mail address of the estimate assisting apparatus 1.By transmitting the request mail, the client P makes a request forrepair.

Next, the flow of an estimate assisting process in the estimateassisting apparatus according to an embodiment will be described withreference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the estimate assistingprocess in the estimate assisting apparatus according to an embodiment.

The presented information receiving unit 11 receives a request todisplay a presented information input screen from the operator apparatus2 operated by the operator Q (Operation S101).

The presented information receiving unit 11 causes the operatorapparatus 2 to display the presented information input screen (OperationS102).

The operator Q inputs presented information determined during atelephone call with the client P to the presented information receivingunit 11 using the presented information input screen (Operation S103).The presented information includes the mail address of the client P andthe date and the time of the telephone call. The presented informationreceiving unit 11 receives, from the estimate making unit 14, anestimate made on the basis of a component for repair and the content ofrepair input from the operator apparatus 2. The presented informationreceiving unit 11 then displays the results of an estimate on thepresented information input screen displayed on the operator apparatus2.

When the operator Q has input the presented information, the presentedinformation receiving unit 11 judges whether or not there is a componentfor repair, which has been presented by the operator Q, that has analternative component (Operation S104).

If there is a component for repair that has an alternative component(YES in Operation S104), the presented information receiving unit 11outputs, to the alternative obtaining unit 12, information regarding thecomponent for repair that has an alternative component from amongcomponents for repair presented by the operator Q. The alternativeobtaining unit 12 obtains, from the alternative storing unit 13,information regarding an alternative component corresponding to thecomponent for repair presented by the operator Q (Operation S105). Thealternative obtaining unit 12 then outputs the obtained informationregarding an alternative component to the presented informationreceiving unit 11. On the other hand, if there is no component that hasan alternative component (NO in Operation S104), the process proceeds toOperation S106.

The presented information receiving unit 11 outputs the presentedinformation input from the operator apparatus 2 to the request screengenerating unit 15. In addition, if there is information regarding analternative component received from the alternative obtaining unit 12,the presented information receiving unit 11 also outputs the informationregarding an alternative component to the request screen generating unit15. The request screen generating unit 15 generates a request screenusing the presented information and the information regarding analternative component that have been received (Operation S106). Therequest screen generating unit 15 outputs the generated request screento the mail transmitting unit 16.

The mail transmitting unit 16 judges whether or not the period of timefrom the telephone call to transmission of an estimate mail has elapsed(Operation S107). If the period of time until the transmission of anestimate mail has not elapsed (NO in Operation S107), the mailtransmitting unit 16 waits until the period of time until thetransmission of an estimate mail elapses.

On the other hand, if the period of time until the transmission of anestimate mail has elapsed (YES in Operation S107), the mail transmittingunit 16 inquires of the request receiving unit 17 whether the client Phas already made an request for repair. The mail transmitting unit 16then judges, on the basis of a response from the request receiving unit17, whether or not the client P has already made a request for repair(Operation S108). If the client has already made a request for repair(YES in Operation S108), the estimate assisting apparatus 1 terminatesthe estimate assisting process.

On the other hand, if the client P has not made a request for repair yet(NO in Operation S108), the mail transmitting unit 16 generates anestimate mail including a request screen and transmits the estimate mailto the mail address of the client P (Operation S109).

The request receiving unit 17 judges whether or not there is a requestmail from the client P (Operation S110). If there is no request mailfrom the client P (NO in Operation S110), or if there is no request fromthe client P in the product repair database 20, the mail transmittingunit 16 judges whether or not the predetermined number of times oftransmission of an estimate mail has been reached (Operation S112). Ifthe number of times of transmission of an estimate mail has not beenreached (NO in Operation S112), the process returns to Operation S107.

On the other hand, if the number of times of transmission of an estimatemail has been reached (YES in Operation S112), the estimate assistingapparatus 1 terminates the estimate assisting process.

On the other hand, if there is a request mail from the client P (YES inOperation S110), the request receiving unit 17 receives a request forrepair (Operation S111).

As described above, when a certain period of time has elapsed since atelephone call, the estimate assisting apparatus according to thisembodiment automatically transmits a mail to which the content of aservice presented during the telephone call and alternatives are addedin such a way as to allow a client to select any service. The client canautomatically make a request for a service by selecting the service onthe mail and pressing a button added to the mail. Thus, it is possibleto prevent the client who has made a telephone call from forgetting tomake a request for a service. Furthermore, the client who has made atelephone call can easily check the content of an estimate presentedduring the telephone call and it is possible to easily make an estimatein accordance with the needs of the client, thereby reducing a load onthe client when an estimate is made.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an estimate assisting apparatus accordingto an embodiment. The estimate assisting apparatus according to thisembodiment is different from that according to the above-describedembodiment in that a password (verification) is needed when a requestfor repair is made. Therefore, generation of a password and reception ofa request for repair made using the password is described in detailhereinafter. Here, components illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5 having thesame reference numerals have the same functions, unless otherwisedescribed.

An estimate assisting apparatus 1 according to an embodiment is providedwith a number issuing unit 18, which is not included in the estimateassisting apparatus 1 according to the above-described embodiment.

The number issuing unit 18 receives, from the presented informationreceiving unit 11, a notice that a request made on the presentedinformation input screen has been received. The number issuing unit 18then generates an estimate number and a password corresponding topresented information. Here, the estimate number and the password may beany numbers, so long as presented information can be uniquely identifiedtherewith. In addition, the estimate number and the password may includeletters and the like. The number issuing unit 18 outputs the estimatenumber and the password that have been generated to the presentedinformation receiving unit 11. Although the number issuing unit 18notifies the operator Q of the estimate number and the password throughthe presented information receiving unit 11 in this embodiment, othermethods may be used. For example, the number issuing unit 18 may notifythe operator apparatus 2 of the estimate number and the password. Inaddition, although an estimate number and a password are issued in thisembodiment, the estimate assisting apparatus 1 according to thisembodiment can operate even when only a password has been issued. Theoperator Q notifies the client P of a password issued by the numberissuing unit 18.

Furthermore, the number issuing unit 18 obtains the mail address of theclient P from the presented information receiving unit 11. The numberissuing unit 18 then associates the mail address of the client P withthe issued password and outputs the mail address of the client P and thepassword to the request receiving unit 17.

After selecting a service on the request screen included in an estimatemail using the user apparatus 3 in order to correct a temporary estimateand make a desired estimate, the client P transmits a request mail forrepair by pressing a request button. As a response to the transmissionof the request mail, an input screen that requests the client P to inputthe password is displayed on the display device 311 of the userapparatus 3. The client P inputs the password. The user apparatus 3inputs the password to the request receiving unit 17.

The request receiving unit 17 associates the mail address of the clientP input from the number issuing unit 18 with the password of the clientP and stores the mail address and the password.

The request receiving unit 17 obtains a request mail for requestingrepair that has been transmitted to the mail address of the estimateassisting apparatus 1 from the user apparatus 3. After obtaining therequest mail, the request receiving unit 17 displays an input screen fora password on the display device 311 of the user apparatus 3. Therequest receiving unit 17 then judges whether or not the input passwordmatches the password associated with the mail address of the client P.If the passwords match, the request receiving unit 17 obtainsinformation regarding an estimate from the request mail and receives arequest for repair.

As described above, the estimate assisting apparatus 1 according to anembodiment receives a request for a service only if the password issuedduring a telephone call is input. Therefore, security in making arequest for a service can be improved.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an estimate assisting apparatus accordingto an embodiment. The estimate assisting apparatus according to thisembodiment is different from that according to the above-describedembodiment in that presented information input by an operator isconverted into a content that is suitable for display for a clientbefore the presented information is displayed for the client. Therefore,in the following description, conversion of presented information willbe mainly described. Here, components illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6having the same reference numerals have the same functions, unlessotherwise described.

An estimate assisting apparatus 1 according to this embodiment isprovided with a conversion information storing unit 19, which is notincluded in the estimate assisting apparatus 1 according to anembodiment.

The conversion information storing unit 19 stores conversioninformation, which is a content to be displayed for the client P andcorresponds to certain presented information.

Now, presented information and conversion information is described indetail. The presented information is information input from the operatorapparatus 2 by the operator Q. The operator Q often inputs presentedinformation while talking with the client P over the telephone.Therefore, when inputting presented information, the operator Q mightsimplify the presented information by using abbreviations that only makesense inside his/her company. For example, a memory might be representedas a “MEM”. In this case, the client P could not understand the contentof the presented information input by the operator Q as it is.Therefore, it is necessary to convert the presented information input bythe operator Q into a content that can be understood by the client P.Information that includes the content that can be understood by theclient P is the conversion information. In the case of theabove-described example, the conversion information corresponding to the“MEM”, which is the presented information, is the “memory”.

The request screen generating unit 15 receives presented informationfrom the presented information receiving unit 11. The request screengenerating unit 15 then obtains, from the conversion information storingunit 19, conversion information corresponding to the presentedinformation that has been input. In this embodiment, in order to quickena search operation, the request screen generating unit 15 identifies apiece of presented information that needs a search for conversioninformation on the basis of the position on the presented informationinput screen to which presented information has been input, and obtainsa piece of the conversion information corresponding to the piece ofpresented information from the conversion information storing unit 19.Alternatively, the request screen generating unit 15 may search theconversion information storing unit 19 for all pieces of the presentedinformation, and use conversion information for pieces of the presentedinformation for which corresponding pieces of the conversion informationhave been found.

The request screen generating unit 15 generates a request screen usingpresented information that has been received, obtained conversioninformation, and received information regarding an alternativecomponent.

As described above, the estimate assisting apparatus 1 according to thisembodiment converts the presented information input by the operator Qinto a content that can be understood by the client P and displays thecontent. Therefore, even if the operator Q uses abbreviations in orderto improve the efficiency at which the presented information is input,the client P can properly understand the content of an estimate.

Although a case in which the conversion information storing unit 19 isadded to the estimate assisting apparatus 1 according to theabove-described embodiment has been described in this embodiment, anestimate assisting apparatus can be operated even if the conversioninformation storing unit 19 is added to the estimate assisting apparatus1 according to an embodiment.

Furthermore, the estimate mail described in the above embodiments may beprovided with a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of an apparatus thatprovides information regarding an estimate made during a telephone call.In this case, instead of making a request using the request button inthe estimate mail, the client P may select the URL using the inputdevice 312 of the user apparatus 3 to access the apparatus that providesthe information regarding an estimate made during a telephone call. Inthis case, the client P makes a request for a service using theapparatus that provides the information regarding an estimate madeduring a telephone call. Therefore, an example of a process for making arequest using the apparatus that provides the information regarding anestimate during a telephone call will be briefly described withreference to FIG. 7. The apparatus that provides the informationregarding an estimate made during a telephone call will be called an“estimate information providing apparatus” hereinafter. FIG. 7 is aflowchart illustrating a case in which a request for a service is madeusing a URL specified in a mail.

The client P refers to an estimate mail displayed on the display device311 of the user apparatus 3 (Operation S201).

The client P clicks, using the input device 312, a URL of the estimateinformation providing apparatus provided in the estimate mail (OperationS202).

The user apparatus 3 activates a web browser (Operation S203). The userapparatus 3 then accesses the estimate information providing apparatusand displays an authentication screen received from the estimateinformation providing apparatus on the display device 311 (OperationS204). The authentication screen is provided with an input field for apassword.

The client P inputs, using the user interface 31, a password notifiedduring a telephone call to the input field for a password in theauthentication screen (Operation S205).

The estimate information providing apparatus judges whether or not theinput password is verified through the authentication by checkingwhether or not the input password matches a password associated with themail address of the client P (Operation S206). If the input password isnot verified (NO in Operation S206), the estimate information providingapparatus terminates the estimate assisting process.

On the other hand, if the input password is verified (YES in OperationS206), the estimate information providing apparatus judges whether ornot the request for a service from the client P has been made within thetime limit within which the estimate is effective (Operation S207). Ifthe time limit has been exceeded (NO in Operation S207), the estimateinformation providing apparatus terminates the estimate assistingprocess. In this case, the estimate information providing apparatus maydisplay a message that the time limit has been exceeded on the displaydevice 311 of the user apparatus 3.

On the other hand, if the time limit has not been exceeded (YES inOperation S207), the estimate information providing apparatus causes thedisplay device 311 of the user apparatus 3 to display a request screen(Operation S208).

The estimate information providing apparatus judges whether or not thereis a request for repair from the user apparatus 3 (Operation S209). Ifthere is no request for repair (NO in Operation S209), the estimateinformation providing apparatus terminates the estimate assistingprocess.

On the other hand, if there is a request for repair (YES in OperationS209), the estimate information providing apparatus judges whether ornot there is a component selected by the client P in components forrepair (Operation S210). If there is a component selected by the clientP (YES in Operation S210), the estimate information providing apparatusmakes an estimate of repair on the basis of the selected component,other components for repair, and the like (Operation S211). On the otherhand, if there is no component that has been selected (NO in OperationS210), the process proceeds to Operation S212.

If there is a component selected by the client P, the estimateinformation providing apparatus causes the display device 311 of theuser apparatus 3 to display an estimate that has been newly made, and ifthere is no component that has been selected, the estimate informationproviding apparatus causes the display device 311 of the user apparatus3 to display the content of the estimate that has already been displayedagain (Operations S212).

Upon receiving an instruction for determining a request for repairissued by the client P, the estimate information providing apparatusreceives the request for repair and stores the determined component forrepair and the content of repair in a database (Operation S213). Thisdatabase may be preferably the product repair database 20, which is usedby the request receiving unit 17 of the estimate assisting apparatus 1to store the content of repair and the like.

Thus, by providing not only a method in which the client P directlymakes a request for a service through a mail, but also a method in whichthe client P accesses the estimate information providing apparatus andmakes a request for a service using the estimate information providingapparatus, the client P can select a request method in accordance withhis/her preference.

In addition, the various processes described in the above embodimentsmay be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on acomputer. Therefore, an example of a computer that executes a programfor controlling the estimate assisting apparatus, the program having afunction of executing the estimate assisting process illustrated in FIG.4, will be described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 8.

Accordingly, a method of controlling an estimate provided to a user isprovided. The method includes generating a record of an estimate of oneof a service or product that is presented to a user during a telephonecall, where the record enables selection by the user and automaticallytransmitting the record having the estimate to the user at apredetermined time subsequent to the telephone call. Further, accordingto an embodiment, the record provided to the user may be interactivesuch that the user is able to make a selection which is reflected at themanufacturer or provider end.

According to an embodiment, the record of the estimate includes data ofone of a product or service adjusted to information obtained from theuser during the telephone call.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a computer that executes the programfor controlling the estimate assisting apparatus. As illustrated in FIG.8, a computer 1000 has a random-access memory (RAM) 1010, a cache 1020,a hard disk drive (HDD) 1030, a read-only memory (ROM) 1040, a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 1050, and a bus 1060. The RAM 1010, the cache1020, the HDD 1030, the ROM 1040, and the CPU 1050 are connected to oneanother by the bus 1060.

The ROM 1040 stores, in advance, a program 1041 for controlling theestimate assisting apparatus control that achieves a function ofexecuting the estimate assisting process illustrated in FIG. 4.

The CPU 1050 reads and executes the program 1041 for controlling theestimate assisting apparatus. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 8, theprogram 1041 for controlling the estimate assisting apparatus becomes aprocess 1051 for controlling the estimate assisting apparatus.

It is to be noted that the above-described program 1041 for controllingthe estimate assisting apparatus need not necessarily be stored in theROM 1040. For example, the program 1041 for controlling the estimateassisting apparatus may be stored in a “portable physical medium” thatcan be inserted into the computer 1000, such as a flexible disk (FD), aCompact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), a magneto-optical (MO) disk, adigital versatile disc (DVD), or an integrated circuit (IC) card.Alternatively, the program 1041 for controlling the estimate assistingapparatus may be stored in a “fixed physical medium” provided inside oroutside the computer 1000, such as an HDD. Alternatively, the program1041 for controlling the estimate assisting apparatus may be stored in“other computers (or servers)” connected to the computer 1000 through apublic line, the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), and the like. The computer 1000 may read the program 1041for controlling the estimate assisting apparatus from theabove-described FD or the like and execute the program 1041 forcontrolling the estimate assisting apparatus.

Accordingly, the embodiments can be implemented in computing hardware(computing apparatus) and/or software, such as (in a non-limitingexample) any computer that can store, retrieve, process and/or outputdata and/or communicate with other computers. The results produced canbe displayed on a display of the computing hardware. A program/softwareimplementing the embodiments may be recorded on computer-readable mediacomprising computer-readable recording media. The program/softwareimplementing the embodiments may also be transmitted over transmissioncommunication media. Examples of the computer-readable recording mediainclude a magnetic recording apparatus, an optical disk, amagneto-optical disk, and/or a semiconductor memory (for example, RAM,ROM, etc.). Examples of the magnetic recording apparatus include a harddisk device (HDD), a flexible disk (FD), and a magnetic tape (MT).Examples of the optical disk include a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), aDVD-RAM, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), and a CD-R(Recordable)/RW. An example of communication media includes acarrier-wave signal.

Further, according to an aspect of the embodiments, any combinations ofthe described features, functions and/or operations can be provided.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principlesof the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor tofurthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitationto such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does theorganization of such examples in the specification relate to a showingof the superiority and inferiority of the invention. Although theembodiment(s) of the present invention(s) has(have) been described indetail, it should be understood that the various changes, substitutions,and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claimsand their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An estimate assisting apparatus, comprising: analternative storing unit that stores information regarding analternative service corresponding to a certain service; a temporaryestimate making unit that, upon receiving presented information thatincludes information regarding the certain service and that isdetermined through a telephone call from a client, makes a temporaryestimate based on the certain service and other services that aredetermined through the telephone call; an alternative obtaining unitthat, upon receiving the information regarding the certain service fromthe temporary estimate making unit, obtains the information regardingthe alternative service corresponding to the certain service from thealternative storing unit; a request screen generating unit thatgenerates a request screen content which corresponds to the presentedinformation and which displays information regarding the temporaryestimate, the request screen content enabling the client to selecteither the certain service or the alternative service; a requestinstructing unit for transmitting a request mail to a predetermined mailaddress for sending a reply; a mail transmitting unit that, when acertain period of time has elapsed since the telephone call, transmitsan estimate mail including the request screen content to a mail addressof the client; and a request receiving unit that receives a request fora service by receiving the request mail which is transmitted using therequest instructing unit and which includes estimate information, whichis obtained by adding information regarding a service selected on therequest screen content included in the estimate mail to the informationregarding the temporary estimate.
 2. The estimate assisting apparatusaccording to claim 1, comprising: a number issuing unit that issues apassword corresponding to the presented information, and wherein therequest receiving unit receives a request for a service upon receivingthe password as well as the request mail.
 3. The estimate assistingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the certain service includesinformation regarding a component for repair, the alternative storingunit stores information regarding an alternative component correspondingto the information regarding the component for repair, the alternativeobtaining unit obtains the information regarding an alternativecomponent corresponding to the information regarding the component forrepair that is received from the temporary estimate making unit, and therequest screen generating unit generates a request screen content forselecting either the component for repair or the alternative component.4. The estimate assisting apparatus according to claim 1, comprising: aconversion information storing unit that stores pieces of the presentedinformation in association with pieces of information for displaying thepieces of the presented information, and wherein the request screengenerating unit obtains a piece of information for displaying the pieceof the presented information from the conversion information storingunit, and generates the request screen content in such a way that acontent of the piece of the presented information is displayed using theobtained piece of information for displaying the piece of the presentedinformation.
 5. A method for controlling an estimate assisting apparatusexecuted by the estimate assisting apparatus, the method comprising:receiving presented information that includes information regarding acertain service and that is determined through a telephone call from aclient; making a temporary estimate based on the certain serviceincluded in the presented information and other services that aredetermined through the telephone call; referring to a database in whichinformation regarding an alternative service corresponding to thecertain service is stored in association with the certain service;generating a request screen content that corresponds to the presentedinformation and that displays information regarding the temporaryestimate, the request screen content enabling the client to selecteither the certain service or the alternative service; transmitting arequest mail to a predetermined mail address for sending a reply;transmitting, when a certain period of time has elapsed since thetelephone call, an estimate mail including the request screen content toa mail address of the client; and receiving a request for a service byreceiving the request mail which includes estimate information, which isobtained by adding information regarding a service selected on therequest screen content included in the estimate mail to the informationregarding the temporary estimate.
 6. A non-transitory computer-readablerecording medium storing a program to cause a computer to execute anoperation, comprising: receiving presented information that includesinformation regarding a certain service and that is determined through atelephone call from a client; making a temporary estimate based on thecertain service included in the presented information and other servicesthat are determined through the telephone call; referring to a databasein which information regarding an alternative service corresponding tothe certain service is stored in association with the certain service;generating a request screen content that corresponds to the presentedinformation and that displays information regarding the temporaryestimate, the request screen content enabling the client to selecteither the certain service or the alternative service; transmitting arequest mail to a predetermined mail address for sending a reply;transmitting, when a certain period of time has elapsed since thetelephone call, an estimate mail including the request screen content toa mail address of the client; and receiving a request for a service byreceiving the request mail which includes estimate information, which isobtained by adding information regarding a service selected on therequest screen content included in the estimate mail to the informationregarding the temporary estimate.
 7. A method of controlling an estimateprovided to a user, comprising generating a record of an estimate of oneof a service or product that is presented to a user during a telephonecall, the record enabling selection by the user; and automaticallytransmitting the record having the estimate to the user at apredetermined time subsequent to the telephone call.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 7, wherein the record of the estimate includes dataof one of a product or service adjusted to information obtained from theuser during the telephone call.
 9. The method according to claim 7,wherein the user makes the selection, the record is updated to reflectthe selection and the user directly requests the selected one of productor service through the record.